Publishing a Newsletter That Gets Read!
Getting your customers and prospects to actually read your newsletter requires you to follow a few important design steps. That’s right, there’s more to publishing a great newsletter than simply good writing.
If you want people to look at something in your newsletter, you should present it in a way that attracts the eye. You can see examples of each of these in our samples at the end of this chapter. You should also try looking at other print publications.
Color and contrast draw the eye. A colored element on a black and white page attracts the eye. So does a thick, black border around a text box. It isn’t absolutely necessary to produce your newsletter in color. With the proper use of shading, reverse text (white text on black background), borders and bold fonts, you can design a black and white professional newsletter.
Headlines draw the eye. Decades of newspaper reading have taught us to look for headlines. We look for them to get an idea of what to read. We scan the subheads to pick up on the key points.
Position draws the eye. Without anything else to draw it, the eye comes to rest about two thirds of the way up the page and slightly to the left of center. That’s a good place to put something interesting.
Pictures and graphics draw the eye. We love pictures. They may not be worth a thousand words, but pictures and graphics draw our attention. That may be why the captions on photographs are among the most-read parts of any publication.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there’s more to producing an effective newsletter than simply good newsletter writing. Your newsletter design must be pleasing to the eye. You can learn more about effective newsletter design in my book, The Magic of Newsletter Marketing – The Secret to More Profits and Customers for Life or by visiting No Hassle Newsletters.
